A few weeks ago, a tweet went viral about an influencer who took out an outdoor ad on Third Mainland Bridge to promote his personal brand.
The ad read:
“Hi I’m Bayomi, I used my savings to put this up. Please follow me and engage my content @semudaraabayomi.”
A lot has been said about how minimalism works as pattern interruption. By breaking away from the usual bright, flashy colors and over-engineered billboard design, it forces you to look.
I agree.
The ad does a good job of using simplicity as a superpower.
But for what it is, it’s the poorest form of what it could be. One hill I’ll die on: to successfully break rules, you must first understand them. A good ad, no matter how unconventional, needs to do four things:
1. Break the Pattern? ✅
Yes. It stands out because it’s so minimalistic you can’t ignore it. The fact that it successfully took the offline, online is proof that it worked.
2. Create Curiosity? ✅
Yes again. People took photos (on a high speed bridge no less), posted them online, and were keen to find out who Bayomi is, and why, in this recession, he’d blow his savings on a billboard.
3. Make the Action Easy? ❌
This is where it stumbles. The handle is too long, hard to recall, and instantly forgettable. Worse, it’s missing a “why.”
“Please follow me and engage my content” is functional but flat. It doesn’t make you feel anything. If you’re going to sell desperation, “I blew my savings on this billboard” it has to be sharper, funnier, or more self-aware to land.
A few ways the billboard could’ve hit harder:
- He could have leaned into the sacrifice
“This cost me my rent. Make it worth it: @abayomi.”
Shorter handle, contextualised sacrifice, instantly memorable.
- Make fun of advertising itself
“This isn’t an ad. It’s a cry for followers. @abayomi.”
Anti-marketing 101: turn the ad into the joke.
- Add a second punchline
“Hi, I’m Bayomi. I spent my savings on this billboard. The next ad will be a job listing if you don’t follow me: @abayomi.”
And if I’m being nitpicky: the ad copy is grammatically incorrect. It should really be “engage with my content.”
4. Will the Curiosity Stick? ❌
Not likely. Once you get the joke, that’s it. No second punchline, no Easter egg. And unless his content has mass appeal (it’s tech/startup content, so the jury’s out) it risks being one-day banter and people won’t actually stick around.
Luckily we have many examples of brands who have nailed down pattern interruption to a T.
Take this EatClub ad in Shoreditch that reads “Shoreditch wasn’t gentrified for you to microwave your dinner”
Perfect blend of wit, context, and provocation.
Or the OG of anti-marketing: No B.S. The skincare and protein bar brand that didn’t invent either category but famously took “the B.S out” of them. With ads like “Some Words On a Wall” or “A Really, Really Big Poster,” these guys understand that anti-marketing isn’t about doing less. It’s about making less feel like more.
Bayomi’s ad nailed minimalism, but missed the second punch: making the minimalism memorable.